Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-04-07
THE ZOO IN WINTER.
Care 0fThe Central Park Henagerie in Cold
Weather

|
how he managed his numerous family of
birds and beasts in winter, said: .sBy
conforming as far as possible with their
various conditions when in state of
nature, with such notifications as are
compelled By the restraints of captivity.
Some ANIMALS, the American bison for in
stance, we winter in shed open on all
sides TO the wind, and only covered to
keep off the rain and snow. This hardy
animal would not thrive IL kept in a warm
stable. The bears all have to be kept in
cages open to the wind, but with close
compartments for shelter, TO which they
can retire when they see fit. Yet, strange
as 1t may seem, we have no animals that
are more likely to take cold and perish
with lung diseases than the bears, if they
are kept In warm room and subjected to
occasional draughts that may not seem
particularly strong. The deer do best
when not allowed to have any artificial
heat. A comfortable shelter ia provided
for them, to which they may retire when
so disposed, but many of them prefer,
even in very Indictment weather, sleeping
on the ground in the open air.
1.-The foxes, wolves and raccoons are
provided for in the same manner as the
bears, by means of open cages, to give
them all the exposure they need, and at
tached shelters in which they may take
refuge from excessive cold. The prairie
| dogs take care of themselves. There are
about fifty members of their little colony.
To make a place for them we excavated
the ground and laid heavy stone floor
and stone walls, making sort of cellar,
in triangular form, thirty feet wide at the
base and about 100 feet long, into which
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natural level. Into that space We turned
the praire dogs to make their own houses,
and they have done so apparently to their
entire satisfaction. They have bzrrowed
In all directions, and are only restrained
by the stone walls and floor from extend
ing their subterranean village indefinite
ly. In the autumn they begin laying up
their winter stores. They have dragged
down at least bale of hay and great
quantity of corn into their burrows, max
ing themselves quite independent of us
until spring. In pleasant weather, all
through the winter, they come out and
appear to take an interest in what is 60
ing on, but on cold days not one Of them
pokes his nose above ground. 1t is a
popular error, by the way, that the prai-
RE dog does not drink water"
eyes" Mr.. Thompson Clipped into the
conversation, "and good many persons
have the mistaken idea that parrots do
not want water and are likely to die if
they drink any. They forget-if they
ever knew that the presence Of parrots
is an unfalling indication of the neighbor-
hood of water in Africa. The errsr arises
from the fact that those birds are gener-
ally brought here by sailors who do not
take the trouble to give them any water.
The birds manage to live, but uudoubted-
| ly suffer fortunes from thirst, for when
| they land here and get at water they are
| very apt to drink SO greedily that it kills
| them"
"Everything that lives, even Kentucky
| colonel, drinks water some times" re-
marked Superintendent Conklin, who
continued: "All that the sea lions ask is
to be let alone, beyond the giving to them
of their daily supply of fish. They play
| about in the water all the winter through.
In exceedingly cold weather, when the
| temperature of the air is considerably
below that of the water, they stay in the
water all the time, only poking their noses
out occasionally for breath. They have
no use for any other shelter. Ice is pre-
| vented from forming on their pond by
their constant motion in the water.
| The swans, geese and ducks scorn even
such shelter as the pelicans have. They
do best in the open air all the time. We
| have fenced off for them a part of the
| upper lake, and there they swim around
| enough to keep the ice from forming on
part Of the water. Many of them, by
| choice, sleep on the ice and in excessive
ly cold weather the down of the swans is
frequently frozen fast to it, SO that we
have to chop it away with hatchets to lib
crate them, They could iust as we'll sleep
on the dry bank, but doubtless an inherit
ed instinct SO self-preservation from the
attacks of prowling nocturna lanimals
leads them to prefer the ice way out from
the shore, as resting place. The swans
have way of drawing their feet inside
their thick down SO that they do not
touch the ice and are never frozen, even
when the down under them is frozen into
the ice. All the geese and swans are won
derfully tough, not in the sense of tough
ness that might commend them for a
boarding house, but in the matter of en-
aurance. Even the Sonth African geese
and the Australian black swans, though
from very hot climates seem to stand the
cold as we'll as the others.
"The antelopes, Persian sheep and two
| remaining out of the great Barnum herd
VI AOl sy-1OuI GIG pudHtS, oIo houoCo III O.
building where stoves maintain temper
allure of about So dogs. The main thing
in caring for them is to protect them
from draughts. Elephants are liable to
attacks of pneumonia. 1t must be some
thing terrible for them. The idea of 200
pounds of copgested lung Is horrible to
contemplate. And they get rheumatism,
too, and die of it, as one did only a
a couple of weeks ago in the Philadel-
phia Geological garden. No; cant tell
you whether they gave him tubfuls of
wine Of colchicum and hundred weights
of salycilic acid, and applied acres of
mustard plasters and barrels of liniment
externally, and connected him with some
dynamos, or not.
"All the cat animals tigers, lions, leop-
ards, etc., and the rhinoceros and hippo
potamus are kept in close house heated
by steam pipes to temperature of not
less than 60 degrees, nor more than So. In
the first week Of January we will build a
new cage, much more roomy that the one
which he now occupies, for the rhinoceros,
nd in h~{ rbax, az faxr brr Iro